The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-09-14
CHEATERS OF WOMEN.
HOW THEY ARE SERVED BY THEIR
PROTECTIVE UNIONS.
Some of the Cases Undertaken by the
Union in this City-How Male Swim
dlers are Brought to Terms-An EN-
ployers Letters,
From, the Ne1o York Sun.

dlerS are BrOOgnU TO TermS-An EN-
ployer's Letters.
From the Ne,0 York Sun
A pretty, dark-eyed girl, with delicate
face which was not less attractive because of
some traces of sorrow upon it, entered the
office of the Working Women's Protective
Union, at 10 Clinton place, one day re-
Gently.
"Iwant to get my money" she said to the
Superintendent Madam - land she
gave the name of fashionable Fifth av-
enue dressmaker) owes me $9S for work"
''Oh, yes" said the Superintendent.
s'We know that dressmaker You are
not the first one to complain against her."
Then the dark-eyed girl told her story.
Her father was an Italian artist in Eng
land. She came to this country with her
brother, and he desert,a her. She used her
needle to support herself in various places,
and finally answered the Fifth avenue
dressmaker's advertisement for finisher at
$40 week. The dressmaker paid her lit
tie at time, but never all she owed She
wanted the S3S due her to pay her passage
back to England, where her father was.
The dressmaker told her that she had
spoiled her work, which was not true, be-
cause she had seen the work accepted by the
customers.
The Superintendent, believing the girls
story, opened her batteries on the fashiona-
BILE dressmaker by sending her the follow
ing:
MADAM -: A complaint against
YOU has been left at this office by
who alleges that you owe her $38 which she
is unable to collect. If there is any just
cause why she should not receive this money,
you will please make it personally known to
us within three days, or elsa we shall be
obliged to assume that your silence is an adj
mission of the debt, and to place the matter
before the court for collection. Yours re-
Spectfully,"
''We will have that money for you to-
morrow, 1 think" said the Superintend-
emit to the girl, and turning to the repor-
ter she said: ''That madam has refused
several times to pay similar claims, but has
always done so when they were presented
by the union We have collected about
$500 from her in small sums for poor girls.
Very little difficulty is experienced in col
Letting these claims after employers thor
oughly comprehend that they have to deal
with powerful organization, and not with
defenseless working woman"
against what class of employers do you
receive most complaints?"
Against dressmakers, think. Why, l
know of one doing business now who has
defranded thirty girls at least, for we have
that many judgments against herl She has
a large house elegantly furnished with furni-
ture obtained on the inStallment plan, and
that we can't touch until the installments
are paid. She Is very shrewd woman,
and has fixed all her property so we cannot
get at il"
The female employers, explained the Su-
perintendent, always cause the union the
most trouble There is a section of the
Code whereby a man against whom a
Judgment has been obtained for unpaid
wages to female employee, and who has no
property in sight to attach, can be arrested
and imprisoned for fifteen days. Necktie
makers, glove makers, and little manufac-
turers are continually defrauding their
girls, but the wise girls who take their
claims to the union generally get their
money.
One class of these swindlers of women,
after SO many operations in one city as to
make a continued residence warm for
them remove to another city and begin the
same business. But there are other unions
in other cities. Recently man, a we'll
known milliner and dressmaker in Phila-
delphia swindled lots of his girls, and the
Philadelphia Womens Protective Union
took proceedings against him. He picked
up his property and came to this city. The
girls claims were turned over to the union
here, and judgment was obtained against
him But the swindler, though very
shrewd, didn't know of the clause in the
Code, and so paid no attention to the judg
ment When he was told about the clause
by an officer of the law, he whistled, and
then paid the full amount with costs.
No claim is too small for the union to take
up Suit for Csc. has been brought several
times, and after going through the usual
process the money has been collected.
The excuses invented by these sharks of
the workshop are very numerous, and many
of them amusing. A common one is that
the work which girl has performed is I'M
satisfactory, though the work is taken just
the same This excuse didn't pass the
other day with a nimble fingered girl,
skillful at fancy work. She had under
taken the embroidering of daisies on felt,
at the magnificent pay OF one and a quar-
ter cents EACH She had finished 265 of the
daisies, when she asked her employer, a
woman, who kept fancy work store, for
pay for them The employer had a bad
habit of finding fault with girls work, and
then deducting certain amount from their
wages.
''Oh, those daisies are wretchedly
worked" said the woman. 81 can't pay
you full price for these. A dollar is all they
are worth"
IAN right, said the girl and she quietly
rolled up her daisies and went to the
WomenS Protective Union for advice.
$50 back and tell the madam that if she
doesn't want 20 pay what she agreed for the
daisies you will keep them. They are
worth all you ask" was the advice she
got.
She went back and made the proposition
TO the madam, who called her an impudent
thing, just because she would not be quietly
robbed. The daisies were worth much more
than cent and a quarter apiece, and the
Willy madam knew it. She paid what she
had agreed to pay for them.
But while bad workmanship is common
excuse, there is a variety of Others urged by
INSCRIPTIONS employers. A bright-faced
young woman came to the Office OF the
Women's Protective Union recently and
said that she had been employed as
saleswoman by dry goods merchant at 81
week. At the end Of the week he dis
missed her, and wouldn't give her any
money.
'Whyp asked the Superintendent.
Couldn't you do the work"
YES. They said my work was all
right, but"
You were certainly not untidy or SLOW
emily in appearancep
No. They said nothing about that,
but" and she hesitated again.
Were you impudent, or careless, or dis
honestp' -. ..
ttNo rho,v ea;d ala not cpniIa at the